Best looking car of the 1980's?

[Raza]

Oh, how could I forget the E30 M3?

[Soup DeVille]

Another handsome car from my youth! 

Ahhh! Another car I actually owned! If I were to look solely to you and Wimmer as the arbiters of cool, I've owned some great looking cars.

[GoCougs]

Yes, it has some immense negative inertia behind it but it was a good looking car, especially with the TPI:

[Vinsanity]

Ahhh! Another car I actually owned! If I were to look solely to you and Wimmer as the arbiters of cool, I've owned some great looking cars.

Ha. But there's a good reason no one does...

[Laconian]

I've never seen a Fuego in person (doesn't sound like they last very long), but they do look cool in pictures.

[Onslaught]

I know that a few of these came out in 1989 and are a stretch. But hey, that is in the 1980's by the book. And some of them like the MR-2 didn't make it to the US until 1990 but they did have them in 89 in Japan so that's in the 80's. Lot's of cars like the Diablo and Jaguar XJ220 came out in concepts in the late 80's but you couldn't buy them so I won't list those.
I'd add cars like the Lotus Esprit and Countach but they came out before the 80's and just became iconic in the 80's.












^^^^A rip off? Yep, but it looked better then the German one it blatantly copied.

[Speed_Racer]

I've never seen a Fuego in person (doesn't sound like they last very long), but they do look cool in pictures.

There were/are a lot in Argentina, though they were typically in pretty rough shape.

[Vinsanity]

The Countach is awesome, but it's too brash (especially the 80's versions) for me consider it beautiful.

The Esprit, though a bit on the plain side, is definitely noteworthy IMO.

[Soup DeVille]

I've never seen a Fuego in person (doesn't sound like they last very long), but they do look cool in pictures.

Mine was in perfectly good shape, being an 84 in 93, and definitely in better shape than the same year olds it replaced, but it had metric wheels, which were impossible to find tires for, do I sold it.

[Northlands]

Mitsu Starion



Lotus Esprit Turbo

[Madman]

Ahhh! Another car I actually owned! If I were to look solely to you and Wimmer as the arbiters of cool, I've owned some great looking cars.

We ARE the arbiters of cool and we salute you for having owned such an awesome car!  Well done, sir!   

[Cookie Monster]

Are we looking at the same picture? Because this Renault Fuego looks like a giant turd.

[Madman]

Are we looking at the same picture? Because this Renault Fuego looks like a giant turd.

We, the Arbiters of Cool™ have decreed your statement to be Not Cool.  You have been docked 100 coolness points.

[Cookie Monster]

We, the Arbiters of Cool™ have decreed your statement to be Not Cool.  You have been docked 100 coolness points.

So the Arbiters of Cool™ consists of a guy who drives a Catera and a guy who gets boners for old '70's POS cars.

I think I'll be OK.

[Madman]

So the Arbiters of Cool™ consists of a guy who drives a Catera and a guy who gets boners for old '70's POS cars?

Yes.

[cawimmer430]

Yes, it has some immense negative inertia behind it but it was a good looking car, especially with the TPI:

How could I forget that one!? 


The Mazda Savanna (RX-7) also looked good.

[cawimmer430]

So the Arbiters of Cool™ consists of a guy who drives a Catera and a guy who gets boners for old '70's POS cars.

'70s car design rocked. 

Much better than the bland stuff being designed today!

[MrH]

Looks like Onslaught pretty much nailed every car I was going to say

[Rupert]

See my sig.

I have a soft spot for a lot of these designs. I've never really considered the Starion to be a good looking car, but I do like it.

And the 944 looks way cooler than the RX-7.

[93JC]

I've never seen a Fuego in person (doesn't sound like they last very long), but they do look cool in pictures.

I forgot to mention I saw a Renault Fuego in the same junkyard I saw the Lancia Beta. The Beta was out front and being sold in one piece. The Fuego was on the yard, had the rear glass smashed and the trunk filled with junk from other cars.

[veeman]

the late 80s/early 90s nissan 300zx i always thought looked awesome.  better than corvettes.

[dazzleman]

the late 80s/early 90s nissan 300zx i always thought looked awesome.  better than corvettes.

Not bad, though from the vantage point of time, cars from the 1980s don't wear well.  I like cars from the '50s and '60s much better.  Even a few from the very early 1970s wear better than 1980s cars.

[MX793]

Not bad, though from the vantage point of time, cars from the 1980s don't wear well.  I like cars from the '50s and '60s much better.  Even a few from the very early 1970s wear better than 1980s cars.

It's funny, but I think the only era's styling that, generally, appeals to me less than the 80s was the 50s.  I'm just not a huge fan of the tailfin era.  I like the art deco/streamline styling of the 30s and 40s, love the muscle/pony car era styling of the mid 60s - mid 70s, but just never really fell in love with the tailfin cars of the 50s - early 60s.  All of that chrome and the extraneous, often outrageous, styling features (like the fins) just seems so gaudy to me.  The 80s sort of swung the other way, with many cars being very conservative and boxy and looking like they were penned by someone with a straight edge and some graph paper (thank you computer aided design software).

Also not a fan of the blobby, bulbous, sea mammal styling of many mid to late 90s cars (Taurus and LH cars are prime examples).

[dazzleman]

It's funny, but I think the only era's styling that, generally, appeals to me less than the 80s was the 50s.  I'm just not a huge fan of the tailfin era.  I like the art deco/streamline styling of the 30s and 40s, love the muscle/pony car era styling of the mid 60s - mid 70s, but just never really fell in love with the tailfin cars of the 50s - early 60s.  All of that chrome and the extraneous, often outrageous, styling features (like the fins) just seems so gaudy to me.  The 80s sort of swung the other way, with many cars being very conservative and boxy and looking like they were penned by someone with a straight edge and some graph paper (thank you computer aided design software).

Also not a fan of the blobby, bulbous, sea mammal styling of many mid to late 90s cars (Taurus and LH cars are prime examples).

I hate bulbous styling on cars.  I don't like all the cars of the 1950s -- some are overdone -- but some of them are pretty cool.

[hotrodalex]

I prefer early and mid-50s.

[93JC]

Me too, hence why when someone in that '50s thread mentioned the Studebaker Hawk I said the earlier Starliner coupes were better.

e.g. '54 Commander Starliner:





vs. '61 Hawk:

[VTEC_Inside]

Sheesh, everyone has got it wrong here...

[cawimmer430]

Sheesh, everyone has got it wrong here...

The Honda's from those days looked awesome and so futuristic.

[CJ]

That generation Accord looks excellent.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

That generation Accord looks excellent.

The Honda's from those days looked awesome and so futuristic.

Agreed!